Cowboys’ Stephen Jones claims Dallas will be ‘selectively aggressive’ in free agency

A year ago, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones dubbed his team’s 2024 offseason slogan as “all in.”  However, that morphed into “get it done with less” following a free agency period in which Dallas spent an NFL-low $20.47 million, per OverTheCap.com.

The Cowboys went 7-10 as injuries and a lack of experienced depth ate Dallas alive following three consecutive 12-win seasons from 2021 to 2023, as a result. Dallas executive vice president Stephen Jones acknowledged the Cowboys front office needed to “take a long hard look” at head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s introductory press conference, and he’s now come up with a new plan of attack for free agency 2025: being “selectively aggressive.” 

“We’re going to look at everything can. We’re going to be selectively aggressive,” Stephen Jones said Monday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Obviously you know there are things in this league, you have certain amount of resources they allow you to have. We’ll look at that. We’re going to try to improve our football team. Not try, we’re going to improve our football, and we expect to have success next year.”

Something Dallas fans will appreciate hearing is Jones taking accountability for not filling enough needs in free agency prior to the 2024 NFL Draft even though “selectively aggressive” doesn’t seem like a swift departure from last year’s “all in” plan of attack. 

“Obviously, our goals historically have been to try to fill as many of our musts and needs before the draft so you can pick the best player on your board,” Jones said. “Didn’t get that totally accomplished last year, but certainly that’s always the goal. And every year is different in terms of what those musts and needs are, and then you also have to marry what’s in free agency vs. where the draft is heavy and where we can help ourselves in the draft.”

Signing three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons is obviously of the utmost priority for the Cowboys this offseason, and even though real talks haven’t begun between the two sides, they could kick off with the combine getting underway. Parsons himself looked to get the ball rolling early with Dallas by setting up a meeting with Jerry Jones in his suite at the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal game in January. Parsons, who is the only player with at least 12 sacks in his first four seasons in the league since individual sacks began being tracked as an official metric in 1982, wants to be paid like the “best in the business.”  That would mean signing a deal with an average per year salary higher than 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa’s $34 million on his five-year, $170 million deal. Jones admitted big deals across the wide receiver market delayed their re-signing of All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, which didn’t happen until after the bulk of their training camp had concluded. All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott wasn’t re-signed until hours before kickoff in Week 1 at the Cleveland Browns last year. 

“There’s always extenuating circumstances to these things. Every contract negotiation is different,” Jones said. “[With Lamb], there were other receivers trying to get their deals done, and some of them still haven’t gotten those deals done. … The CeeDee deal was just different. We’ll just see how Micah’s deal goes. I don’t necessarily know that there’s a lot of extenuating situations out there that would [prevent] us from being able to get our hands around something with Micah, but we’ll see.” 

Another free agent Dallas will look to be selectively aggressive with is defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa , whose 60 quarterback pressures in 2024 were the second-most in the league at his position. Odighizuwa outperformed Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter in both quarterback pressures  (60 to 53) and quarterback pressure rate (12.3% to 10.4%) last season. New defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus went to bat for Odighizuwa’s return, saying he “is a guy that we like a lot, and he’s a really good player for us.”

“Yeah, we’re certainly working with [Osa] right now, working with his agent and have had productive talks and we’ll see where we end up this week,” Jones said.  

Other free agents who could be worth being “selectively aggressive for include running back Rico Dowdle, cornerback Jourdan Lewis, edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence and edge rusher Chauncey Golston. Since All-Pro guard Zack Martin is retiring, if Lawrence is retained, he would become Dallas’ longest-tenured player. He was a second-round pick in the 2014 draft behind Martin. 

“That guy’s laid it on the line for us for years and years and years,” Jones said.

Prescott told CBS Sports in early December that he would be willing to restructure his four-year, $260 million contract to accommodate the Cowboys making more moves this offseason. That’s something Dallas’ front office plans to do along with restructuring Lamb’s four-year, $136 million deal to free up around $57 million in cap space. 

“From our standpoint, it gives us some more flexibility in terms of what we can do,” Jones said.

Now, it’s time to wait and see if the Cowboys will be more aggressive or selective with their cap room this offseason.